


Am I That Bad Of A Father?

by RichardGraysonPercyJackson



Series: The Life Of Omega Dick Grayson [6]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: Alpha Jason Todd, Alpha Slade Wilson, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Bonding, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Bonding, M/M, Mentioned Bruce Wayne, Mentioned Tim Drake, Multi, Omega Dick Grayson, Pack Family, Suspension, Trapeze, from school
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:47:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27905455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RichardGraysonPercyJackson/pseuds/RichardGraysonPercyJackson
Summary: “Am I a bad father? Is that why you don’t listen to me? Have I done something wrong in raising you that you only ever listen to your father or your Papa? Am I...am I not good enough?”“Dad, that’s not it."“Then why don’t you listen to me?”
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Jason Todd, Dick Grayson/Jason Todd/Slade Wilson, Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson
Series: The Life Of Omega Dick Grayson [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1241864
Comments: 5
Kudos: 114





	Am I That Bad Of A Father?

“Dad, can you just...say something, already?”

Dick stayed silent where he was seated on the couch with his elbows on his knees, fingers interlaced under his chin as he stared up at his children with a blank expression. 

“Dad?”

Dick sighed, slowly leaning back and letting his hands fall into his lap. “What do you want me to say, John?” he finally asked, sounding just as weary as he felt. “It’s not like you’re going to listen. You never listen to me.”

“Dad-” Rosemary tried.

“Am I a bad father?” Dick asked. “Is that why you don’t listen to me? Have I done something  _ wrong _ in raising you that you only ever listen to your father or your Papa? Am I...am I not  _ good _ enough?”

The twins flinched back as though they were struck. “Dad, that’s not it,” John said weakly, guilt clear on his face.

“Then why don’t you listen to me?” Dick asked quietly. “Why are you both constantly getting into fights and getting hurt and getting suspended? I thought Slade and Jason were  _ working _ with you two to help you  _ deal _ with the Mirakuru and Pit Madness. Aren’t they?”

“They are,” Rosemary murmured.

“Are they better parents than me? Is that it?”

“No!” the twins declared together.

“Then why?” Dick asked again. “Why don’t you ever listen to me?”

“We do-”

“No, you  _ don’t _ !” Dick cut in, giving a weak laugh as he shoved his hands into his hair, tugging on the dark strands lightly. “No, you don’t! You never listen to me, you’ve  _ never _ listened to me! I just don’t-” he cut himself off, squeezing his eyes closed when he felt tears burning the back of his eyes. After a few moments of silence, Dick straightened up with a shaking breath.

“You have homework,” he told them. “Both of you.”

The twins didn’t move, watching as Dick walked over to the door and grabbed his phone and keys and shrugging on his jacket. It was only when he grabbed his wallet and began putting his shoes on that John spoke.

“Where are you going?”

“I don’t know,” Dick replied honestly, glancing at the time on his phone. “Your Papa will be home in fifteen minutes. Your father won’t be back until later.”

“When will…” Rosemary glanced at her brother. “When will  _ you _ be home?”

Dick sighed. “I don’t know.”

………………………………..

Despite his distress and frustration, Dick didn’t go far. In fact, he didn’t even leave the parking lot, instead just sitting on a bench outside of the front of the apartment building with his head in his hands until Jason’s motorcycle rolled into place fifteen minutes later.

“Hey,” his Alpha murmured as he approached, helmet tucked under his arm and worry in his eyes as he took a seat next to the Omega. “What’s wrong?”

Dick sighed, straightening up. “Nothing,” he replied dully, resting his arms on his thighs as he leaned forward and stared blankly at the ground. “How was work?”

“It was fine,” Jason replied, reaching out to gently rub a hand over Dick’s back. “What’s wrong? Where are the kids?”

“They’re in the apartment,” Dick replied. “I just...needed a minute.”

“What happened?”

“Am I a bad parent, Jason?”

“No, of course not!” Jason declared, turning to give Dick his full attention. “Dick, you’re a great parent! You’re amazing! How could you ever think you were bad?”

“Because they don’t  _ listen _ to me!” Dick declared, letting some of his frustration bleed into his voice. “They have  _ never _ listened to me and I don’t understand  _ why!” _ He gave a weak laugh followed by a sniffle. “John listens to you, Rosemary listens to Slade, but neither of them listen to  _ me _ and I just don’t…” he buried his face in his hands as he tried not to sob. “I don’t understand  _ why _ .”

Jason let them sit in silence, continuing to rub a hand over Dick’s back, before murmuring, 

“Do you want to come up with me? Talk to them together?”

Dick shook his head. “I just want to be alone right now.”

Jason nodded. “Okay,” he murmured, leaning over to press a kiss to Dick’s temple. “I’m going to head up, alright?”

“Okay.”

After a moment of just sitting there, Jason asked, “Did the kids do something today?”

Dick huffed. “When  _ don’t _ they do something?” he muttered. “They both got into another fight at school and both got suspended.”

“Are either of them hurt?”

“No.”

“Alright.” Jason gave Dick a gentle side hug before standing. “I’m going to head upstairs, okay? I’ll leave the door unlocked, just come up whenever you feel like it, okay?”

“Okay. Thanks Jay.”

Jason smiled before heading into the apartment.

………………………………………………….

“Papa, we’re  _ really _ sorry!”

“We didn’t mean to get into a fight.”

“They were bullying Aria again and we couldn’t just let her get hurt!”

“The principle never does anything.”

“He’s practically useless-”

“Alright, alright, enough,” Jason cut in firmly. “Both of you go sit on the couch. Not another word. Your dad already told me you got into a fight and got suspended. So we’re going to have words.”

“But-”

“On the couch. Now.”

The twins complied silently while Jason headed back to the bedroom to remove his jacket and drop his helmet on the dresser, carding a hand through his hair before huffing and heading back out into the living room, standing in front of them with his arms crossed over his chest.

Predictably, it was John who broke first. “Papa-”

“Did you immediately tell all that stuff to your dad, or just me?”

They shared a confused look. “What do you mean?” Rosemary asked.

“Did you come home and tell your dad you got suspended and why or did he have to find out from a phone call from the school?”

This time they looked guilty. “The principle called him,” John murmured.

“The principle called him,” Jason repeated. “You didn’t rush to defend yourself with him like you did with me.” They lowered their heads further. “Why? Is your dad not as important as me? Do you not respect him?”

“Is he mad?” Rosemary asked quietly.

“He’s really really  _ hurt _ ,” Jason corrected, placing his hands on his hips. “You really hurt his feelings today.”

“Where...is he?”

“Honestly, I think he’s outside crying,” Jason replied. The twins winced, guilt marring their faces. “So I’ll ask again. Is your dad not as important as me? Do you not respect him?”

“It’s not... _ that _ …”

“Then what is it?” The twins didn’t have a reply. Jason sighed and pulled out his phone. “Alright.”

John peeked up at him, uneasy. “What...are you doing?” he asked tentatively.

“I’m texting your father.”

Two sets of shouted “No!” reached his ears and Jason paused, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh?” he asked, anger bubbling up inside but he tamped it down because the last thing his pups needed to deal with was a Pit Madness blind Alpha. “And why not?” when they didn’t reply, Jason went back to texting Slade as he went on, “Could it be because your father is going to be more  _ strict _ on you than I am? Could it be that he’s going to be more frustrated with you disrespecting your dad than I would be?”

“Please don’t call father,” John begged.

Jason hummed, clicking the send button as he casually replied, “Too late.”

………………………..

“Hey,” Jason murmured, looking up from where he was seated on the couch when Dick finally came in a few minutes after seven PM. “You okay? You were out there awhile.”

Dick shrugged, wiping at his eyes which were red, no doubt from crying, as he murmured,

“I’m going to go lay down.”

“Okay,” Jason agreed, watching his mate head down the hall to their room. “Hey, I texted Slade earlier. He’s on his way home now.”

“Okay.”

“We’re going to sit down and talk to the pups once he gets home,” Jason added. “Do you want to join?” Dick hesitated so he gently added, “you don’t have to.”

Dick sighed. “I should.”

“Alright. Do you want me to come get you when dinner’s ready?”

“I’m not really hungry.”

“Okay. I’ll come get you when Slade’s home.”

“Okay.”

…………………………….

“So,” Slade said calmly, one leg crossed over the other and an arm thrown over the back of the couch behind Dick as the two of them and Jason sat on the couch in front of John and Rosemary who were seated on kitchen chairs in front of them. “It seems we need to have a talk about respect in this household.”

John winced. “Father-”

“I’m not done talking,” Slade cut in firmly, both twins ducking their heads. “I think the two of you owe us all an explanation.  _ Especially _ your dad. Is there or is there not a reason you do not respect his authority in this household?”

“It’s not that we don’t respect-”

“Don’t give me that,” Slade cut in firmly, eye hard as he stared their pups down. “This was not an open ended question. I wanted a simple yes or no reply, that is all.”

John and Rosemary glanced at each other before Rosemary murmured, “There’s...a reason.”

“There’s a reason,” Slade repeated. “Explain.” Neither of the kids replied. Slade rolled his eye. “As expected,” he murmured.

“Ever since you two were little, you’ve been disrespecting and mistreating your dad,” Jason said, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. “You never fight or argue when Slade and I are home, but the minute we’re gone you start throwing punches.”

“It’s not-”

“Am I wrong?”

John swallowed, shaking his head. “No sir.”

“No I’m not wrong,” Jason repeated. “Wouldn’t you agree, then, that that’s disrespectful to your dad when you only fight when he’s home?” Jason turned towards their daughter. “Rosemary?”

“Yes?”

“Do you think that’s disrespectful towards your dad?”

Rosemary bit her lip. “Yeah,” she mumbled.

Jason hummed. “Do you two have any idea of the kind of shit your dad went through when he was pregnant with the two of you?” he asked. “The shit we all went through?”

“Jason,” Dick mumbled. “Don’t curse.”

“They’re sixteen, they’ve heard it all by now,” Jason assured him, even though he did make a note to tone it down for now.

“You’ve told us,” John murmured.

“Do you know how scary it was, not knowing if you two or your dad was going to survive?” Jason pressed on. The twins shook their heads. “So why are you treating him like he’s not-” Jaso cut himself off, eyes wide as he murmured, “Oh.”

Slade glanced over. “Oh?” he asked. It clicked a moment later. “I see.”

Dick looked between the two of them, frowning and feeling left out and useless that he didn’t understand what connection the two of them had made. He blamed it on the exhaustion and emotional strain the day had brought him but it still didn’t make it easier.

“What is it?” he murmured.

“They’re treating you like you’re not their parent,” Jason explained softly.

Dick frowned. “Why?”

“Because John is enhanced like me,” Jason murmured. “And Rosemary is enhanced like Slade.”

“They get so much of their personality from us,” Slade went on.

Understanding finally clicked for Dick. “That they feel like they didn’t get anything from me.”

Slade looked towards the twins. “Is this true?”

Rosemary shrugged while John hesitated a moment before finally speaking. “We don’t feel like we have the same connection with you as we do with…” he shrugged. “Papa and father.”

“Oh,” Dick murmured softly. 

“John bonds with me through dealing with Pit Madness, Rosemary bonds with Slade through the Mirakuru-”

“But they haven’t gotten anything from me.”

“Is that true?” Slade asked the twins again. “Is that what it is?”

This time it was John who shrugged while Rosemary nodded and, after a moment, murmured,

“It’s rare, but in cases like ours where there are three parents and the Omega gives birth to twins and each twin has a genetic tie to one of the Alpha parents and te twin is rtied to the other, it can take years for them to bond with the Omega parent whereas most pups bond with their Omegan parent instantly.”

Dick groaned, burying his face in his hands. “Oh god,” he mumbled.

John and Rosemary shared glances, hesitating, before John murmured, “We’ve...tried. With Uncle Tim, we’ve tried connecting to things you like, but it’s…”

“You’ve tried to have a connection with me but it’s never clicked.”

“Nothing really worked,” Rosemary confirmed.

“We never meant to be disrespectful,” John mumbled.

“But that’s what it is,” Dick guessed. “We just never bonded the right way.”

“Dad, we’re really sorry.”

Dick sighed softly, wiping his hands on his jeans as he stared into his lap and nodded.

“No, it’s…” he sighed. “Fine. It…” he scoffed. “Of course, it makes sense. Nothing can be easy in my life, can it?”

The living room was silent for a long time, Jason carefully wrapping an arm around Dick’s shoulders to comfort him, before Slade perked up and asked,

“You haven’t tried everything though, have you.”

John and Rosemary frowned at him. “What do you mean?” John asked.

“There’s no way you’ve tried everything,” Slade repeated.

“We’ve tried everything we could think of,” Rosemary replied. “What are we missing?”

“Have you tried gymnastics?”

Jason and Dick looked up, frowning, as John asked, “What do you mean?”

“Gymnastics,” Slade repeated. “Acrobatics. The very  _ core _ of your dad’s being.” he raised an eyebrow. “Have you ever been on a trapeze?”

John and Rosemary shared glances before slowly looking back at Slade and shaking their heads.

“Uncle Tim...didn’t think it was a good idea,” Rosemary explained. “He didn’t know how to use the trapeze and thought...we shouldn’t do it…”

“Without dad,” John finished, realization finally clicking. “Oh my god, he tried to tell us from the start.”

Jason gave a weak, almost relieved laugh. “Oh my god, I cannot believe you two never thought of that!”

“What do you say, pretty bird?” Slade asked, looking over at Dick. “Head over to Wayne’s tomorrow to use his trapeze?”

John’s eyes went wide. “Grandpa Bruce has a trapeze?”

“He added it into his home gym a few months after he took me in,” Dick explained softly, trying not to get his hopes up on the off chance it wouldn’t work. “No one else uses it.”

“It could be the connection you need,” Jason said, holding tight to Dick’s shoulder.

“It’s worth a shot,” Rosemary said, hope in her voice.

“It’s up to you, Richard,” Slade murmured.

Dick hesitated a moment before murmuring, “It’s worth a shot.”

………………………………

The Next Day

“I...cannot believe that worked,” Jason remarked to Slade, the two of them in the front seat of the car and heading back to the apartment from the manor while Dick sat in the back between the twins, John and Rosemary eagerly asking when they could go back and use the trapeze again.

“I can,” Slade said, smiling.

It had been an odd incident. The kids had been fascinated the moment they’d walked in and when Dick finally took them to the top - swinging on the trapeze alone and then one at a time for safety - it had been like something had  _ clicked _ between the pups and their Omegan parent and they hadn’t stopped talking about it since.

“I just wish they would have talked to us about it as soon as they realized,” Jason murmured. “Could have saved us all a hell of a lot of pain.”

Slade hummed in agreement before turning around and saying, “Don’t forget, you two, you’re grounded when you get home.”

“What!?” John declared as Rosemary demanded, “Why!?”

Slade raised an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me the two of you have already forgotten that you were just suspended from school.”

The twins ducked their heads. “Sorry,” John mumbled.

“For the week in which you are both suspended, you will spend that time bonding with your dad,” Slade decided, the twins lifting their heads to stare in shock at the drastically lenient punishment from the typically strict parent.

“Really?” John asked, eagerly.

“Thank you!” Rosemary cried, clinging to Dick’s arm and looking up at him as she said, “Dad, I’m so so sorry we never bonded right and I’m so sorry John and I have been so disrespectful!”

Dick laughed. “It’s alright,” he murmured, drawing them both in for a hug. “But thank you. I appreciate the apology.”

“They’re going to be apologizing a lot more over the next few days,” Slade told him, his tone telling the twins that they absolutely would be apologizing in any way possible, regardless of if they wanted to or not. (They did).

Dick sighed, leaning back between the twins and meeting Jason’s gaze in the rearview mirror, smiling.

He wasn’t sure if the bond of trapeze and acrobatics would be enough to shift the twins’ attitudes and disrespect, but he did know it was a good step in the right direction. Jason had always accused Dick of being too positive, but for once the acrobat felt like his positivity and optimism was warranted.

It might take awhile, but he knew everything was going to be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> As I was writing in the tags, I realized....uh, there are two highly angry Alphas living together, how does that go?
> 
> So now I'm eventually going to write a short about them going into rut and picking fights with each other.
> 
> Eventually.
> 
> For now, let me know your thoughts and thank Idi_Dot_OtaLife for reminding me that I had this short waiting to be finished.


End file.
